YES, Again I have 'itchy feet'..Well scratch them..I hear you say.I wish that it was as easy as that.

So yes I'm always wondering if the grass will be greener on the other side of the hill.I've climbed a lot of hills in my life.Sometimes the grass was greener, sometimes it wasn't.

We love our present house and we've lived in it over 12 years, the longest time in any house in over 52 years of marriage.So why move ?I don't know !

I've pondered and pondered about this and have decided on 4 options.1st...Stay put.2nd...Move to a different region of Spain.3rd...Go to France--something keeps calling me..4th...Return to UK.

My Thoughts..1st...We know everyone and everything about our present location, and I've always got a multitude of on-going projects to keep me occupied,but perhaps I'm bored of the same routines.2nd...I often wish that I was living somewhere else in Spain...maybe back to the coast, but perhaps it would be too much hustle and bustle.3rd...I do have some very distant French blood, perhaps that's why I fancy France, but then I wonder if it would be too much hassle adjusting to different rules and regs and different climate.4th...My mind keeps flashing back to when I loved living in UK, and especialy to the Wirral, my birthplace , but could I adjust again after almost 30 years in Spain ?.

So many different thoughts about what to do.....But I have arrived at a decision....

I wonder if other members have had the same thoughts as me ?

I will reveal all, well not everything, when I've read other peoples thoughts, that's of course if anyone replies with sensible offerings...

Gordon that's a very personal decision that only you can make, so difficult to comment. I look forward to hearing what you have decided though!

However ..... we did go to France for a few years but missed Spain too much and came back. We adapted OK to the language as we learnt at school and so had a better grounding in it than Spanish which we still struggle with. It was more expensive than living here and where we lived was extremely quiet and rural with little going on. Although we were in the SW the weather was horrendous. 40 degrees and high humidity in the summer with tropical-type storms, whilst winter was freezing and down to -10 at times. What I do miss is my house though. For the same price as our tiny villa here we bought a 20 room 18thC farmhouse with half a metre thick walls and beams. I do miss that typical style of French house although the upkeep long term would have been expensive. And a second 'however' .... we were younger and probably adapted and coped with all the new bureaucracy etc a lot better!

Personally I can never imagine myself moving back to the UK. I feel a foreigner there, although it's nice to visit in the early summer. If we could ever afford it perhaps would be nice to have a little place to go to rather than have to stay in rented accommodation when we visit, but due to animal commitments here we currently only go a couple of times a year for a few days so it's really not worth having a bolt hole there for now.We only have one elderly family member left there now so there's no family to draw us back either.

Exactly the same thoughts and motives Gordon, even similar timings. WE'VE decided to cast fate to the wind and have put the house on the market, let fate decide, we are quite happy here but perhaps would like to be nearer family and speak the lingo properly if things get difficult towards the end of the innings..if you know what I mean

We found the move from one part of Spain to another far more stressful than our move from the UK, even though the house was there rather than having to be built, and we were much more comfortable with the language and the way of life. We have put it down to simply being 13 years older.

Wicksey said she can not imagine herself moving back to Uk and how she feels a foreigner in the Uk...I suppose it can seem daunting moving back to a country that you left many years ago, things change and the country of origin will not feel like the same place where you once belonged, hence feeling like a foreigner..I find it amusing how some Spanish look upon hubby as a foreigner, having left there almost 39yrs ago he's so out of touch with day to day bureaucracy and how it has changed. I never thought the day would come where i would hear him ask his sister "what do you mean i don't know that word " for example the word internet didn't exist in his Spanish language lol...Having said that to me he will always be more Spanish than English and if he returned to live permanently in Spain tomorrow i know he would be so happy, the older he gets the more his feet are itching.

I had a very busy day yesterday and another hectic day expected today, so I will reply and let you all know properly about my decisions tomorrow at about 12 noon, after we've had a lazy churro breakfast at our local bar...

And now I've got to go out to do my 10,000 steps, blimey I hear you say..

Come and live here in the Basque Country France is so near, you can pop across the border anytime you want.In fact, that’s exactly what I have done today and I’m writing this while sat in a bar in Hendaya looking out on France to the east and Spain to the west

I have the same thoughts, Gordon! My choices are your 1) and 4) though. Plenty of the things you've written could apply to me, as well. When we moved here, over 6 years ago, the 'novelty' was exhilarating and most of the time (apart from the scary bureaucratic stuff) we absolutely loved it. We still do but familiarity sets in and I think I am a bit bored, too. We recently spent 3 weeks in the UK, my OH was fitting a kitchen for a daughter, other family members had issues going on that I was very involved with - and actually even if we hadn't planned to come back at that time for the kitchen fitting, I would have flown back anyway.

For the first time, I didn't look forward to coming back to our home in Spain..... I wanted to stay on, not just to support my family but I really enjoyed England. Well, maybe not the traffic. I appreciated the English countryside, the shops, the cooler Summer weather, (although it was pretty hot and humid for some of our 3 weeks) but of course I realise that would all once again become familiar and I would no doubt miss the wonderful Andalucian mountains, our village, being so close to the coast etc.

I will follow this thread with interest. Now that I've been back a few weeks (and the family stuff is settling, touch wood) I'm seeing the pros and cons pretty clearly and can't come down on either side, really. Brexit (wash your mouth out, Irene!) does of course concern me and I suspect from a health service point of view, we may be better off here as the years go on...... There are many practical and emotional considerations, good luck in your decison, Gordon xx

Gordon, waiting for your response with anticipation, are you going to tell us there is a 5th option? Your posts are always interesting reading and this one is not just interesting but you have got us all in suspense. You must have guessed that we needed a well deserved break from Brexit.

First of all may I explain that although we don't have our house on the market we do have a young couple desperate to purchase the house, they plan to marry in 2 years and have their hearts set on purchasing our house.This fact was enough to set Mrs. B pondering about moving, as I'm sure you will understand.Although there are plenty of houses for sale in our large village there are none in the same style or location as ours, plus the fact that the couple have many family members in the area.They have also offered quite a realistic price and they have told me that the purchase would be a wedding present from both of the sets of parents, a very nice thought and what a good start for a young couple in this financial climate.

So taking into consideration all of the plus and minus factors we have decided to..........

The result to be announced shortly after our break for coffee..2nd cup this morning....

Does Stay mean Stay? Or could there be a chance later on to change your mind again?

It seems, like us, you're very good at making lists and weighing up all options in order to make very well informed decisions, so I'm quite certain it's the right choice for now. I've no doubt when, or if, you do decide to make a change, it will be for all the right reasons and will be a success.

Option 4: "...could I adjust again after almost 30 years in Spain ?" Naturally (after 20 years) I had the same concerns. After being back over a year now, I can tell you quite happily that yes, it's surprisingly easy to adjust, and it's also sufficiently "different" still to keep it interesting. (although to be fair, I'm not exactly in my native "tierra", so wandering around the Wirral, or your ancestor's land around Speke, not to mention the funny accent(!!) is enough to keep a simple Southerner amused... )

Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often

"Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative," Mordecai Siegal 1935-2010.